The Second Letter of Peter- 2

Subtitle: Growing in Godliness- 2

2 Peter 1:10-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

Today’s passage transitions from Peter’s list of virtues that we need to be adding to our lives in verses 5-7.  Peter had then warned in verse 9, “he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”  This leads to our passage today which begins with the word “therefore.”

Today’s message is the logical imperative to those who understand this warning.

Let’s look at our passage.

Peter gives a final exhortation

Make certain your calling and choosing by Jesus. (v. 10-11)

Whether we view our calling and choosing as something the Father does or something Jesus does (as it says in this passage), it is all the same.  What the Father wills the Son and the Spirit go forth to do.  Jesus is the executor of the Father’s will.

What is meant by calling versus choosing, i.e. election?  Calling refers to all the ways that God’s choice, or election, is made known to people.  The various theological positions deal with this differently, so here is my explanation of what I see in Scripture.

The first truth is that God has made the choice to save humanity from its fallen state and back to its proper state in relationship with Him.  Yet, He also chose the particular, righteous way that this saving (or redemption) will be done.  The sending of the Eternal Son to take on human nature and provide salvation for “whosoever believes in him [Jesus]” is God’s particular way.  God will save anyone of humanity who puts their faith fully in Jesus.

Because of His nature, God also knows the individuals who will choose to do so.  This bothers some.  They believe that the foreknowledge of God regarding what a person will choose removes the true freedom of that person to choose Him.  Of course, nothing about foreknowing a situation logically makes the situation happen.  We easily see this among humans.  If you see someone throw a ball onto the table, you quickly make the calculation that it is rolling too fast to stay on the table.  You know that it is going to roll onto the floor and choose whether you will do something about that.  Your knowledge (though after the fact of the throw) does nothing to affect the throw or its velocity.  It simply is something that exists within your mind.

Of course, with God, He has prior knowledge, and His knowledge is complete, i.e., He knows for sure without error.  This still does not affect the choice of people.  Let’s picture salvation as a plate of food.  God places the plate laden with food before us.   He knows whether we will eat it or not, but we are still completely free to eat it or not.

Someone may argue that the person is not completely free to choose because they are in bondage to sin.  How can a person in bondage be free to choose?  Just as the person can eat food because God has put it in front of them, so a person can choose to take hold of salvation because the Spirit of God is calling them and will help them to overcome every hurdle, if they will believe.

So, God’s election or choice of saving humanity through Jesus is brought to people through an external and an internal witness.  Christians are the external witnesses that share the words of life and live out the words of life before those who do not yet believe.  At the same time, the Holy Spirit is working on the inside of a person to recognize that there is something in those words and in those people.  Though these are all influences, they do not remove a person’s freedom to choose.

Jesus represents this choice and calling that occurs in our lives.  What does Peter mean by making our calling and election sure or certain?  The calling and election are always certain from God’s side of the equation.  He will not change His mind about saving humans through faith in Jesus.  The plate of food in front of you may be certainly there, but it is not certain that you will fully eat it.  Peter is focusing on our side of the equation.  We are not saving ourselves, but we are “certainly” taking hold of what God makes available to us.  This is the imperative.  A similar phrase used of this idea is the many imperatives to “walk worthy” of the calling of Christ (Eph.4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12).

Peter then states that those who “practice these things” will never stumble.  Practice is essentially living out these godly virtues by faith.  The help of the Holy Spirit will ensure that this will happen in increasing measure.  It could also be translated as simply “those who are doing these things.”  The point is not about doing them without fail, but a continual applying of ourselves to these things by faith and by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Different versions can affect how we understand the word “stumble.”  Peter is not saying that those who do these things will never make a mistake.  Stumbling and falling are used in Scripture to refer to a spiritual problem.  Regardless of what words you use, the idea is two-fold.  We can stumble in doing these things, but we do not fall away from Christ.  You could also describe it as falling from the path but not falling away so as to never recover.

Peter is stating that those who live a life of pursuing these virtues by faith will never fall away from Christ completely. 

In Romans 11:11, Paul uses similar terminology about the nation of Israel.  As a people, they stumbled in the first century. Paul wants Gentile Christians to know that this stumbling was not so that they would fall forever (without recovery).  Rather, their stumbling was so that the Gospel would go to the Gentiles and provoke them to jealously over the relationship they have with God.  This would cause them to desire to turn back to the Lord.  If the stumbling of the nation of Israel meant grace to the Gentiles, then what would recovery of the nation of Israel mean but life back from the dead!

The point is that God is always working to make us like Jesus.  Even when we stumble, He is not seeking to cut us off, but rather, He seeks to bring us to repentance.  A person who is seeking to grow in godliness is continually repentant for the ways in which they fall short.  This keeps them moving forward in the growth of godliness.

Peter then connects this to missing out on the everlasting kingdom of Jesus.

Verse 11 says, “in this way…”  It may be good to think of our growth in godliness as a path whose endpoint is being completely like Jesus in these things.  This path will proceed to the end of our mortal life and will finish at the resurrection of the righteous.

Essentially, Peter is telling us that those who do not abandon this path will never fall away from Christ.  This leads to the implication that those who do abandon this path will find themselves shut out of the Kingdom of Jesus.  Their faith was not actually in Jesus because in the end they refused to follow the godly path that he has made for us.

Such people can have various ideas in their heads.  Some are playing games.  They don’t think it is real while imagining some benefit by joining the Christian community.  Others may have a twisted theology.  They imagine that Jesus paid the price for all their sins, so they don’t have to worry about how they are living.  Often there will be a reference to grace versus works.  However, Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could keep on sinning in this life.  Even if you imagine a life with no sin “in heaven,” to believe you are not supposed to become like Jesus in this life is a refusal to listen to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that inspired it.  The Spirit is working at all times to help you be more like Jesus.  We refuse to listen at our own peril.

By the way, the Bible is not against works.  We are warned against dead works and encouraged towards the works of faith.  Dead works are when we think that our life is acceptable to God on its own merits.  However, this is not what Zacchaeus was doing when he gave money back to all of those people.  He was so happy to be saved that the Spirit that he volunteered doing more than the law required.  These are the works of faith.  Following Jesus is a work of faith.

When Peter speaks of being “abundantly supplied” an entrance into the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is speaking of a specific entrance that is in the future.  They had all entered the kingdom in the sense that it was within them by the Spirit of Christ.  He is our Lord and we obey his commands.  However, Peter is looking ahead into that grand entrance that will occur at our death.

Our spirit will either go into the grave awaiting judgment because we refused to believe in Jesus, or our spirit will enter into God’s throne room where Jesus is.  This life is part of our entrance.  However, we must endure by faith to the end.  Thus, our entrance is not complete until we stand before Christ.  Of course, we will then experience a resurrection at some point and join Christ as he takes control of the kingdoms of this earth.  Jesus will reign on this planet in person for 1,000 years.

Notice that we are not trying to get to heaven so much as we are being joined with Jesus never to be separated again.  In John 14:3, when Jesus told his disciples he was leaving them, he also promised that he would come back for them so that “where I am, there you may be also.”  The point is relationship and presence, not place.  Thus, at death, my spirit is with Jesus in heaven.  In the Millennial Kingdom, my spirit, now in a glorified body, will be with Jesus on this earth.  In the Final State (Revelation 20-22), we will enter the new heavens and the new earth with Jesus regardless of what we will be doing and where it will be done.

Let’s not forget that Christ is king over this earth right now.  However, Christ is not enforcing his kingship.  It is our duty to teach, to disciple, the nations in following him.  When he takes up political control at his Second Coming, then his kingdom will be fully upon the earth.  It is here now in us but not yet fully.

He does not want us to forget these things. (v. 12-15)

In view of The Entrance that Peter has just mentioned, his exhortation turns to deal with the forgetfulness of humans.  The stakes before us are too high to jeopardize by forgetting the things Peter has spoken.  To forget is to fall away and lose out on this great kingdom and all that God has for us ahead.

Peter says that does not want to be negligent to remind them always.  Kids can become annoyed with the reminders that adults give them.  However, kids and adults have proven throughout history that forgetfulness comes easy to us.  What is important today can easily be not important tomorrow.  Peter is writing this letter so that it can stick around and remind them when he is gone.  If they forget, it will not be because Peter was negligent.

How about you and me?  If our loved ones are to forget these things, let it not be because we were negligent in these matters.  May we remind them as we live and leave behind reminders for when we are gone.

Peter says in verse 12 that they know these things and are established in them.  They are presently doing well!  Peter is not saying that they are not doing enough.  Rather, he understands how perseverance works.  Perseverance is hard.  People need encouraged in these things.  Oh Lord, remind us from what You have saved us and to what You are bringing us.

Peter likely knows that he will be martyred for Christ.  Perhaps some of these Christians he addresses will also face such a trial.  Why would I risk an immortal life in order to keep a temporary life?  May God strengthen us all to remain established in the faith and growing in godliness.

In verses 13-14, Peter refers to his “tent.”  There is a certain urgency to his letter because he knows that he will shortly (soon) put off his mortal body.  This is what the tent symbolizes here.

God dwelled among Israel in a temporary tent until they entered the promised land.  God eventually dwelled among them in a permanent structure.  This symbolism is on purpose.  Our mortal life is pictured by that tent made from animal skins, always on the move in the wilderness of this life.  However, there is a day that is coming when we will be given a fixed or permanent body in the resurrection.  God will still dwell within us, but now He will be within us, and we will be what He has been making us to be.  The path of becoming godly like Jesus will have come to an end!

Peter knows he is going to die and will be unable to remind them again.  This is why he is writing a letter.

He emphasizes that this has been revealed to him by Jesus.  He could be talking about the discussion in John 21.  Jesus told Peter after his own resurrection that “when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”  That event was over thirty years ago.  I believe that Peter has had a recent revelation from Christ that his time was near.  He is most likely arrested and held in Rome.  Jesus has prepared him for the judgment of a wicked man that will come upon him.

In this letter, Peter ensures that his diligence at the moment will provide a harvest of reminders later.  They will be able to remember his teachings, but this letter will ensure that the fog of time will not hinder this remembrance.

Today, the apostles are all gone, but their writings remain.  We call it the New Testament.  Those impacted by their ministry have created a wave of faith across the world and down through history.  All of this is headed somewhere.  Jesus is going to return with the saints in glorified form.  If you want to be in that group, if you want your loved ones to be in that group too, then we need to apply the same diligence that Peter applied.  It starts by keeping ourselves immersed in the word of God and following the leading of the Holy Spirit in living out the righteousness of Christ.  We are believers today because of the diligence and faithfulness of people before us.  This work has been helped by the Holy Spirit down through the years and is still operating here today.  May God help us to work with the Holy Spirit in order to promote the purpose of Jesus across this earth to save people from their sins and provide their entrance into His eternal Kingdom!

Growing in Godliness 2 audio